Blood Bound
by Lex Sparrow
Summary: Set sometime after 'Forever'. While going through her mother's belongings Buffy finds an envelope addressed to herself and Spike.
1. Chapter 1

**Blood Bound**

**By: **Lexxie Sparrow

**Rating: **K

**Summery**: Set after 'Forever'. While going through her mother's belongings Buffy finds an envelope addressed to herself and Spike.

**A/N: **The idea for this has been bouncing around in my head forever, or at least felt like forever, especially since LOGO started running the series again (oh how I've missed it). I may leave this be or continue it.

All was quiet in the Summers' home that morning, a little too quiet for Buffy's liking. Her sister had gone back to school that morning after being absent due to their mother's illness. She had thought about calling Willow or Xander but they were both at school or at work this time of the day, and although the company would be appreciated she really didn't want to go to the Magic Box and spend the day with Anya. With those options thrown out of the window, she decided to do something she had been putting off for the past few days: going through the belongings in her mother's room.

She took a couple boxes upstairs and started with the dresser and the closet first. When both of those were empty she took the boxes downstairs to the basement so they could be donated to a thrift store later. She then stripped the bed covers and laid them in a pile next to the door. Soon all that was left to clean out was the table beside the bed. She took a deep breath before sitting down on the bed and opening the drawer. In there she found a bunch of junk her mom had probably forgotten she put in there as well as a few odds and ends. She was about to just throw the contents into the trash until she saw a yellow envelope sitting at the very bottom.

She picked it up, careful to leave the stuff that needed thrown out in the drawer, and looked to see not only her name scrawled on the top but also for some reason there was Spike's. She frowned and undid the clasp on the back that was keeping it sealed shut. Inside was a plain white envelope and yellow colored one. Still wondering what this was doing in her mom's bedside drawer she pulled the plain envelope out and seen that it also had both hers and the blond vampire's names. Nervously she pulled open the unsealed flap and pulled out what looked to be a hand written letter.

_Dearest Buffy & Spike,_

_If you're reading this, then I am probably no longer with you, and I know there won't be much that I could say that would console you. Now this letter isn't goodbye, it's about what is in the second envelope. While I was in the hospital the last time I asked the doctors to look into something for me, just incase, once I realized that Dawn was not truly mine._

_I asked them to run a DNA test comparing Dawn's to yours. I had always wondering how she had ended up with the bright, blue eyes that she has. One look at seeing her with you, Spike, and I understood._

_Inside are the test results. You may do with them what you will, but I thought it might help out. If not with Glory than with your father pending his reaction to what has happened._

_I love you. All three of you._

_Mom._

Buffy wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes and stared at the unopened package. Inside was the results from the DNA test, results that were bound to change everything.

She opened the clasp on the back and pulled out the sheets of paper that were stapled together. The first had her mom's name on it under alleged parent. The percentage was high enough to confirm they were related but not high enough to confirm that Dawn had been Joyce's daughter.

The next sheet had her own name typed in the same space. She had known it from before but not to this extent. There in her hands laid the proof of how the monks had created Dawn; though they had sent her in the form of a sister, they created her from Buffy's own blood.

There was one last sheet with the paternal DNA test results. Joyce had listed him as William Summers due to not knowing what Spike's last name had been before the change. It was looking at the percentages that gave Buffy the shock of her life. Of course if they were going to use her blood, they would have used the blood of the next strongest warrior: Spike.

Dawn was their daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own BTVS or Mutant Enemy. That's all Joss.

Buffy sat there on the bed frozen. The monks had created the memories, the ones of sibling spats and sisterly bickering, but had made her straight from Buffy's own blood. They made a child out of the blood of the two best warriors at the time.

They had made her a mother. It felt too weird to even contemplate let alone for it to be true. Yet the proof laid there on the floor underneath her feet. 99.9% positive.

A tear rolled down her cheek. It was too much, first the loss of Joyce and now this. She didn't have anyone to turn to, to ask for help, to help her understand. How was she supposed to deal with this?

She sniffed once and brushed the tears off with her hand. She bent down to pick up the test results that had fallen out of her hands and went to put them back in the envelope. She was tempted to close it up, throw it back into the junk drawer she had gotten it from and forget it ever existed. At least until her eyes ran over the paternal candidate once again.

Despite what she thought of him, her mother and Dawn both cared greatly about him and Joyce had wanted him to know as well.

She sighed and picked up the phone. "Hey Xand, do you mind picking Dawn up from school? I've got something I need to do." She thanked him and hung up the phone. She had to see a man about a girl.

Spike was lying on top of the sarcophagus dozing when he heard the door of the crypt open slowly. He opened one eye to see who had come inside and was surprised to find the Slayer standing there with a look on her face he hadn't seen since the first night before Joyce had gone into the hospital.

He fought back the sarcastic retort that had been on the tip of his tongue. "Wha's wrong?" he asked her as he sat up.

He noticed her playing with the edge of a yellow envelope that she seemed to be holding onto for dear life. "I was going through my mom's things earlier and I found this." she said quietly as she walked over to hand him the envelope.

Spike looked down at his name written in Joyce's handwriting. "Wha's this?" he asked her wondering what Joyce could have possibly left behind for him.

"Open it." she said sitting in the spot his boots had been before.

Spike looked at her before turning back to the envelope in his hands. He undid the clasp and removed the four sheets of paper that were inside. He started with the letter written to both himself and the Slayer. He was slightly surprised at the results of the first test that had been run, even more by the second.

"Wha' the hell did those monks do?" he asked her still slightly shell shocked at the revelation.

Buffy looked over at him. "Look at the last one." she said softly.

Spike flipped to the last page and slowly read it to himself. "Bloody hell..." he gasped softly as the results fell out of his hand onto the crypt floor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Bloody hell." Spike gasped as he tried to wrap his head around this new development. First the monks had messed with their brains to throw Dawn into the mix, making fake memories to include her in events that had taken place, then to find out they had messed with their DNA to create her, to be able to be in this world.

What were they thinking? Did they not see what had happened with the Initiative and their pet projects?

He stood up from the sarcophagus and started pacing. How could they do this to them, he thought. Worse, how could they do this to her. She was just a child.

His child.

He grabbed a half full bottle of liquor and threw it against the wall with a satisfying smash as he let out a roar.

"Spike..." Buffy said slightly startled by his outburst.

"They toyed with us! Those fucking monks played God! Who were they to decide this? They made a child and..." Spike roared, shaking his anger. The monks had given him a child with the woman he loved but... "We didn't even get to...They took her childhood from us! Bloody fucking hell!"

"I know." Buffy whispered softly as she stayed sitting in her spot to let him rant. She had the entire walk over here to rage inside of her head and try to deal with it. He had just woken up, more than likely, to have her burst in and throw a huge curveball straight at him.

"Why? Why would they do this? To us? To her?" Spike asked running his hands through his hair and tugging on it.

Buffy walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "They did it to protect her." she said keeping him still.

"Wha'..?" he trailed off.

"She's the Key, Spike. She has a god looking for her. They wanted to keep her safe, they wanted us to keep her safe." she said rubbing his shoulder slightly.

"What are we gonna do?" he asked her trying to subtlety swipe the tear from his eye.

"We should tell her."

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This has been reedited from its original version. If you read the original, please take a moment to reread this chapter.**

**Chapter 4**

The car slowed to a stop out front of the two story house. The passenger down opened and out stepped a young, dark-haired girl. She picked her backpack up off of the car floor before thanking her ride and walking up the pathway to the house.

"Buffy?" she called out as she stepped through the door. "I'm home."

Buffy stepped into the doorway that connected the foyer and the living room. "Hey Dawnie can you come sit down for a minute?" she asked gesturing towards the couch.

Dawn looked over at his sister, "Alright." she said going to sit down on the couch. As she passed by the first thing she noticed was the blinds were drawn, when she turned she saw a bleached blond man sitting in the chair.

"Spike what are you doing here?" she asked slightly excited. She hadn't seen much of him since Buffy had him uninvited from the house and had missed him being around.

Spike smiled slightly. "'ey Little Bit."

Dawn looked at them both worriedly. "So what's going on guys?"

She watched as the two of them traded looks as Buffy sat down on her right. Buffy sighed and spoke up first. "Dawnie there's something we have to tell you." she said seriously.

Dawn silently panicked inside. The last time she had been pulled aside like this by Buffy had been when their mother had died. "Wh-what's going on?" she hoped they couldn't detect the fear resounding in her voice.

Buffy took a deep breath. "Spike is..."

"Moving in." he chimed in and Dawn watched as they did the silent communication thing they unknowingly did on occasion, not that they'd admit it if they did notice.

"Yeah..." Buffy continued on., "we decided that with Glory hanging around and trying everything she can to find of the Key, it would be best that we had some extra help around the house?" For some reason to Dawn's ears it sounded like a question, like it hadn't been what Buffy had planned on saying.

She tried to think of what they could be trying to hide and her eyes widened. "Are you guys dating?" she squealed.

This time it was Spike that initiated the unspoken conversation between him and the slayer. She watched as Buffy sighed for a minute before turning back to her.

"No, this is just a precaution to keep you safe from Glory." Buffy told her. "This way someone will be around the house all of the time in case she decides to drop in again."

Dawn nodded slightly. "Is he going to stay in Mom's room?" she asked softly. The room had been vacant since their mother's passing as neither one was ready to clear the room out completely.

Buffy smiled at her sadly. "No Dawnie, he's going to stay in the basement."

Spike nodded. "It's safer for us flammable types." He said trying to get a smile out of the girl.

Dawn smiled weakly at them. "Can I go upstairs now? I have homework."

Buffy nodded and hugged Dawn before letting her stand up. On Dawn's way to the stairs she stopped to lean down to hug Spike, who was still in the chair. "I missed you." she whispered in his ear.

"Missed you too, bit." he whispered back and she thought she detected a bit of sadness in his voice. She kissed him on the check before going on up to her room leaving Buffy and Spike alone in their living room.

**TBC...**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here you go! Chapter 5! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**

Buffy waited until she was sure Dawn was up in her room before turning to Spike. "What was that?" she yelled.

"Wha' was what?" Spike asked trying to act innocent.

"We didn't talk about you moving in! What happened to telling her the truth?" Buffy asked as she began pacing the living room. Why did he have to do that, as if thing's weren't screwed up enough. What would Giles say when he found out? Willow? Xander?

"And what, Slayer? Listen to her deny in all her teenage glory? She just lost the woman she knew as her mum. How do you think she'd react if we told her 'guess what bit, your mum wasn't your mum but your grandmum'?" Spike asked sarcastically still relaxed in his chair. He didn't see anything wrong with what he had done. If they had gone with her plan, they would have been chasing Dawn all over Sunnydale. Again. "And we did talk about it. I tol' you I wanted to be around her more."

"I thought you meant coming over more, not live here!" Buffy exclaimed. "What am I going to tell the gang? I can't have a vampire living in here!"

Spike stood up from his chair. "One day, slayer, you're gonna do somethin' for yourself an' not worry about your mates." he said before going into the kitchen where the staircase to the basement was. He had to start cleaning out his new home.

Buffy sat on the sofa and put her hands over her eyes to try to calm down. Everything had been going alright until last week. How is it possible everything could be fine and go right to hell in such a small span of time?

She had a sister, a mother, and a pest that wouldn't leave her alone, that was the life she was used to. Now she had a daughter who didn't know she was her daughter and the father was slowly trying to incorporate himself into their lives.

She sighed once more and looked outside the window to see that the sun had set. Her job had begun for the night. It was times like this she was glad to be the slayer, to have an outlet for her anger and frustration. She stood up and went over to her weapons chest to arm herself.

"Dawn I'm headed out!" She called upstairs as she pulled her jacket on. "Spike's in the basement if you need him!"

She heard Dawn call back in acknowledgement before leaving the house in the direction of the nearest cemetery to take out the newest round of fledglings.

Dawn waited until she heard the sound of the front door closing before leaving her room to go pay a visit to their new housemate staying in the basement. She slowly crept down the basement stairs to find Spike going through a box of stuff they had stored down there, throwing some things in a box to get rid of while putting the stuff to keep back into the one he was digging through. She sat down on the bottom step and waited for him to notice her. She didn't have to wait long. "Hey bit." He said softly as he pulled a big, thick book out of the box.

"So how did you convince her to let you back in the house?" Dawn asked him as she watched him continue to root through the box. After his crazy attempt at declaring his 'love' for Buffy, Willow had done a disinvite spell to revoke Spike's invitation into their house. No one knew that she had been sitting at the top of the stairs and had seen the pained, dejected look on his face as he was blocked by the invisible barrier that hadn't stood in his way since Buffy faced down Angelus.

"Tryin' to keep you from that crazy bint, nibblet. Big sis thought it'd be better to have the two of us under the same roof. Two super beings being better than one and all that rot." He said as if he had rehearsed it. He kept his attention on moving the boxes around and going through them so he wouldn't have to look at her. If he caught a glimpse of her eyes, the eyes that were the same color as his own if he remembered correctly what color his own were, he knew he would start breaking things again. Who gave those monks the right to play God with their lives?

"I'm glad she let you back in." she said so softly that if he hadn't been a vampire, he never would have heard her.

Spike sighed and turned towards her slightly. "So am I." he smiled slightly. Even if he was confined to the basement, at least now he was back amongst his girls. It wasn't just Buffy; he had gotten attached to the other two Summers women as well. Now he knew why; they were his family. The thought of whether Buffy would let Dawn eventually take his own last name popped into his mind for a moment and he shoved it out of the way. They could worry about that later.

Dawn stood up off of the step and went to hug him. "Hey," she said brightly, "when you're done down here, can you help me with my history homework?" There could be benefits from having a 120 something year old vampire living in the house.

Spike cocked an eyebrow. "What are you studying this time?" he asked wondering what part of his history he'd have to remember and try not to complain too much about how the textbook writer got it wrong.

"World War II."

Spike groaned. He remembered exactly where he was then and it hadn't been a fun time for anyone. "I'll be up in a bit."

Dawn squealed in the way only a teenage girl could and pecked him on the cheek. "Thank you! I'll get my stuff."

Spike chuckled to himself as he came across an old photo album inside a box. He opened it up to see pictures of a young Buffy and Dawn with Joyce and her former husband. He scowled at the book and threw it across the room. He took an unneeded breath to calm himself and decided to go upstairs to help his child with her homework. No bloody monk or hell god was going to take the rest of the time he had with her away.

**TBC…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was closing in on 2 am when Buffy arrived home from her patrol. There had been quite a few newly risen vampires, as well as a nest, that she took out. She noticed the living room light was on as she walked through the door and spotted Spike and Dawn sound asleep on the sofa with the television still on.

She grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and clicked the television off. She placed the remote back in its spot and shook Spike's shoulder to wake him up. "Hey." She whispered as he blinked slowly to adjust his eyes to the light.

"Wha' time is it?" he asked yawning.

"Two o'clock." She whispered, trying not to wake Dawn up.

Spike nodded in acknowledgment before trying to untangle himself from the teenager. "I'll just take 'er on upstairs." He said picking her up so he could take her up and put her in her own bed.

Buffy put away the weapons she had taken with her, hung up her coat, and went into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat in the time it took Spike to take Dawn upstairs and come back down.

"How late did you let her stay up?" Buffy asked as she leaned against the sink with a yoghurt cup in her hand as Spike sat down at the island.

"Dunno. " He replied. "Helped her with her homework and watched TV for a bit. Fell asleep during it, I guess."

Buffy sighed as she grabbed a spoon. "You're gonna spoil her aren't you?"

"So what if I do?" Spike asked as he went over to the refrigerator to get a bag of blood out to warm up.

"We got to act like everything's normal, Spike. We can't let her think she can get away with certain things." Buffy told him.

Spike rolled his eyes at the Slayer as he watched the mug rotate in the microwave. "What's normal, Slayer? We live on a bleedin' Hellmouth."

"Exactly!" Buffy whispered, trying not to raise her voice and wake up the teenager sleeping upstairs.

Spike turned to face her and looked her straight in the eye. "Tell me you don't want to do the same thing as I do? You know as well as I do that this is probably the only chance you'll get to be a mum. This is definitely the only chance I get to be a dad. Tell me you don't want to embrace that."

Buffy had to look away from him. "I can't. I have to keep things as normal as possible while trying to keep her safe from a hell god and an army that is out to kill her. _Maybe _if everyone comes out alive, maybe I'll tell her and embrace it. For now I can't."

Spike breathed a deep sigh as he took his heated mug of blood from the microwave. "An' how long do you think you can keep this from her? You saw how she took it when she had to find out from a _book_ that she's whatever this Key thing is." He reminded her of the chase they had to go on about two months ago, on Buffy's 20th birthday; after Dawn had found out she was the Key and decided to run off.

Buffy glared at him. "I get it, you want to play happy family, but we can't. There are other things that are bigger than who Dawn's parents are. As far as she needs to know, I am her sister and you are here for her protection. That is as far as it goes."

Spike took a sip of his late dinner. "You don't want her to know, do you?"

Buffy sighed exasperated. "Not right now. We've got bigger things to worry about."

Spike quickly drained this dinner and put the mug in the sink. "Whatever you say, Slayer. Just don't come cryin' to me when the kid takes off because of you. Again." He said before storming down to the basement.

Buffy sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Why can't anything in my life be simple, just once?" she whispered as she got up to throw out the empty yoghurt cup. She turned out the kitchen light and headed up stairs. On her way to her own room, she walked passed Dawn's bedroom door that had been left open slightly.

She walked in, making sure the door didn't creak and wake the sleeping teenager. She sat down on the edge of the bed and took a good look at Dawn as she brushed a lock of hair from her forehead.

If she paid close enough attention, she could see how her mom may have noticed the similarities. Dawn had her nose and hair color; the color her own had been before she went blonde. The attitude she definitely got from Spike, her cheek bones had to come from his side, too, as well as his eyes. Hers were the same shape and, when open, the same blue. Not that she paid that much attention to Spike's eyes to know what shade of blue they were. Ever.

The monks had done an excellent job of combining their DNA together to create the body to hide their key in. They thought they were smart; implanting her as Buffy's sister. None of them probably thought that one of them would have her DNA checked once they found out. If Joyce had never gotten curious after the visit from the Queller demon, no one would have ever found out.

She placed a soft kiss to the top of Dawn's head and made her way to her own room to get ready for bed. Xander would be there early in the morning to pick Dawn up for school. She paused for a moment in her routine. Xander would be there in the morning.

How was she going to explain to the Scoobies that she was letting _Spike_ take residence in her basement?

**TBC…**

****

Teaser for chapter 7:

He stared her hard in the eyes. "Unlike some, I take care of what's mine."**  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Buffy woke up and came down the stairs the next morning to the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen. She wondered who was in the kitchen cooking breakfast and, if it was Dawn, how long would it take for the smoke alarm to go off. Instead of finding Dawn at the stove, she found a flour clad bleached vampire and a teenager sitting at the island with a stack of pancakes in front of her.

"Wha…what are you doing?" Buffy asked him as she took in the sight of the darkened kitchen and the vampire _cooking_ at her stove.

Spike raised an eyebrow as he flipped the cake he was finishing. "I thought the 'Bit would like a decent breakfast before school." He said removing the last pancake from the heat and sitting a stack on a plate next to Dawn. "Sit down an' eat, Slayer."

Buffy stared down at the plate he placed down and shot him another curious look. Dawn rolled her eyes at her. "Relax, they're fine." She stated as she put another fork full into her mouth.

She picked up her own fork and slowly cut a small bite off of the top cake as she kept one eye on the vampire, who was now warming up his own breakfast in the microwave. She slowly brought the fork to her mouth and her eyes widened as she took the first bite.

"Wow! When did you learn how to cook?" Buffy asked as she happily dug into the rest of her breakfast.

He shrugged. "Got stuck indoors a lot. When Dru was in some of her worst moods, I'd have a lot o' time on my hands." If it was possible, both of the girls would have guaranteed he would have been blushing as he spoke. "Your mum also thought it'd be good for me to know a few things. Now we know why." He said quietly as he shot Buffy a look as he got his breakfast out of the microwave.

A corner of her lip lifted up slightly. "Thank you." She said quietly as they heard a knock on the door.

Dawn stood up from her stool and grabbed her backpack. "That'll be Xander." She opened the bag to make sure she had everything as the door opened and the man came in, announcing his arrival.

"Hey Buf….what is he doing here?" Xander glared over at the bleach blond.

Spike raised an eyebrow at the Slayer as he sipped at his breakfast. "You got everything, 'bit?" he asked, ignoring the carpenter.

"Yep." She nodded as she hugged Buffy.

"History homework?" he asked as she came around the island to him.

"In the folder, done, and checked by you last night." She replied as she hugged and kissed him on the cheek.

"Buffy!" They heard Xander exclaim as he watched the display in front of him. Last he knew, Buffy had disinvited him from the house. He wasn't even allowed in the Magic Box. "What is _he _doing here?"

Buffy looked over at the pair across from her then to her friend and back at her plate. She had thought about what she would say last night while on patrol. She figured it would be best to go with what they told Dawn. "With Glory on the loose, I figured it would be good to have back up around. Spike's the strongest after me; he'll be able to protect her."

Spike smirked as Xander glared at him. "Let's go, Dawnie." He said and they heard the door slam behind him. The teenager waved at the pair left behind and followed after the upset brunette.

The Slayer sighed as the door closed again. "Great." She said sarcastically as she pushed away the empty plate.

"Relax. Wha's he gonna do? Tattle to the watcher? It's your choice who you let in your house. Not his." Spike said as he filled his used mug with water and sat it by the sink.

She went over to the refrigerator and looked inside. "He's going to end up telling Giles and Willow and make it a bigger deal than what it is." She said looking to see if there was any juice left.

"Again so wha' if he does?" he asked watching as she took the shopping list off of the refrigerator door. "She's ours, it's our job to protect her." He said as he took his wallet out of his back pocket.

Buffy sighed and rubbed the spot between her eyes. Why did she have the feeling they were going to keep having these types of conversations? She opened her eyes to see his hand out towards her holding a wad of cash.

"What's that for?"

Spike motioned to the piece of paper in her hand. "You need groceries, this is money to pay for them." He said slowly.

Buffy shook her head. "I've got it. Besides I don't even know where you got that." Last time she had looked, there was enough money in her mother's checking account to get them through the next two months as long as she was careful.

Spike rolled his eyes. "It's mine. Take it, get what you need."

"I don't need your money, Spike." She glared at him. She didn't need him to pay for food that he probably wouldn't even touch.

He had an idea of where this was coming from and he stared her hard in the eyes. "Listen, unlike some, I take care of what's mine. You and the 'bit are mine and I take care of my family, alright?"

Buffy slightly back off at the sight of the ice cold look he was giving her. "Alright." She said reluctantly as she took the cash from him. "I'll…I'll go get dressed and go."

He nodded as she went upstairs to her room. He heard her bedroom door close and started looking for the cordless phone. He had calls to make.

TBC…..


End file.
